AUT Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
AUT Ventures is the commercialisation arm of Auckland University of Technology (AUT), founded in 2005 as a not-for-profit subsidiary of the university. Its mandate is to manage and transfer AUT's intellectual property and knowhow, connecting AUT researchers, staff, students, and alumni with industry partners and investors. In May 2025 it launched the AUT Innovation Fund, a $5 million vehicle that gives AUT Ventures a direct early-stage investing capability alongside its longstanding commercialisation-support role. The fund's tagline, "Curiosity. Applied.", captures its framing: good research ideas transformed into commercially viable, real-world ventures.
The fund operates through two mechanisms: direct investment in early-stage companies that have evolved from AUT science and technology research, and creation of new commercialisation and impact opportunities from AUT research and capabilities more broadly. Investment decisions run through the AUT Ventures Investment Committee (IC), which evaluates opportunities against three criteria: the venture must be AUT-born (founded by AUT staff, students, or researchers, or based on AUT research), high potential (a clear plan to grow, attract follow-on investment, and deliver commercial returns), and ethical and aligned (contributing positively to society, the environment, and AUT's mission).
Sector Focus
Because eligibility is defined by AUT provenance rather than a fixed vertical, the portfolio spans whatever AUT's research strengths produce. Observed investments to date cover: medtech/biotech (a decade of AUT respiratory-therapy research commercialised into a medical device company), sustainable materials/specialty chemicals (a cellulose-based surfactant platform developed out of AUT chemistry research, now operating inside a climate-tech accelerator), and gaming/creative technology (an AUT-graduate-founded indie game studio). This breadth is a direct function of AUT's own faculties (engineering, computing, science, health sciences, creative technologies) rather than a deliberately chosen thesis vertical.
Stage Focus
AUT Ventures invests at the earliest stages: pre-seed and seed, effectively pre-institutional capital for spinouts still close to the underlying research. It frequently acts as one participant in a syndicate alongside dedicated early-stage VC funds (e.g., Outset Ventures, Icehouse Ventures, Cure Kids Ventures, Motion Capital, Climate Venture Capital Fund) rather than originating and pricing rounds itself.
Check Size
Publicly observed check sizes are small relative to typical institutional seed funds, consistent with a university-affiliated evergreen vehicle: a $110,000 investment into game studio CONICAL, and participation (alongside Motion Capital as lead and Climate Venture Capital Fund) in a $350,000 round for Dot Ingredients. AUT Ventures (via an earlier commercialisation vehicle, pre-dating the formal Innovation Fund) also participated in a $1.5 million round for RespirAq alongside Outset Ventures, Icehouse Ventures, and Cure Kids Ventures — the largest investment to date into any AUT-developed technology, though AUT Ventures' own portion of that round is not separately disclosed.
Lead Tendency
Mixed, leaning toward following/co-investing. In syndicated rounds (Dot Ingredients, RespirAq) AUT Ventures participates alongside an external lead investor. In at least one case (CONICAL) it appears to be the sole named investor for that specific tranche.
Recent Activity
The AUT Innovation Fund is newly launched (May 2025) and actively deploying its initial $5M allocation. Since launch: a co-investment in Dot Ingredients (May 2025), a $110,000 investment in game studio CONICAL to support its title Faeborne, a change in Chief Executive to Dr Michael Fielding (previously the fund's Venture Principal), and the July 2025 appointment of Mitali Purohit (General Partner at Nuance Connected Capital) to the AUT Ventures board.
Portfolio Highlights
- RespirAq — waterless medical airway-humidification technology out of AUT's Institute of Biomedical Technologies (Professor Ahmed Al-Jumaily). Raised $1.5M from Outset Ventures, Icehouse Ventures, and Cure Kids Ventures (Jan 2022); later received FDA breakthrough device designation and a further $3M from Movac's Emerge Fund 4.
- Dot Ingredients (formerly Spherelose) — cellulose-derived surfactant platform aiming to replace petrochemical surfactants; founded by Assoc. Prof. Jack Chen, Dr Andres Tiban, and Dr Mohinder Naiya; raised $350K led by Motion Capital; currently in the Aurora Climate Lab accelerator.
- CONICAL (developer of Faeborne) — AUT-graduate-founded game studio (est. 2016), previously known for VR/AR activations and the Green Fairy series; received $110K to support Faeborne's multi-platform launch.
Team
- Dr Michael Fielding — Chief Executive (PhD Robotics, University of Canterbury; MBA, University of Edinburgh; previously Venture Principal at AUT Ventures and Investment Manager at Callaghan Innovation)
- Chris Hill — Venture Director
- Tom McLeod — Venture Principal
- Cindy Luo — Venture Programme Manager
- Abi Thampi — Venture Manager
- Matias Kinzurik — Venture Manager
- Fiona Shen — Venture Analyst
- Rohini Sharma — Venture Analyst
- Frances Cross — Engagement Lead
- Rose Scott — Engagement Coordinator
- Tom Davidson — Contracts Manager
- Mitali Purohit — Board Member (also General Partner, Nuance Connected Capital; formerly led ArcAngels at Icehouse Ventures and the technology incubator programme at Callaghan Innovation)
Decision Process
Investment Committee (the "AUT Ventures IC"), evaluating against the AUT-born / high-potential / ethical-and-aligned criteria described above.
Founder Preferences
AUT staff, students, researchers, or alumni founding companies based on AUT-originated research or IP. Ventures need not be purely technical spinouts — the portfolio includes a creative-technology/gaming studio — but all disclosed investments trace back to an AUT-connected founder or research lineage.
Geographic Focus
New Zealand, specifically the Auckland innovation ecosystem tied to AUT (headquartered at Level 16, 56 Wakefield Street, Auckland). Portfolio companies operate globally (e.g., Faeborne's multi-platform launch, RespirAq's US FDA designation) but origination is Auckland/AUT-centric by definition of the fund's mandate.